(FNA) ~ The Syrian Army troops carried out mop-up operations in Eastern Ghouta and found a workshop used by the terrorists for making chemical weapons, a Russian media outlet reported on Monday.

The Arabic-language website of Sputnik quoted Syrian Army Colonel Feras Ibrahim as saying that the army men seized a workshop that was used by the terrorists to build chemical weapons near the small town of Aftaris.

He further told Sputnik that the seized chemicals would likely be used to launch a false-flag chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta to later accuse the army of the attack.

Earlier reports said that the army troops continued their attacks on terrorists’ positions after hours of a daily ceasefire ended in Eastern Ghouta on Sunday afternoon and laid siege on the town of Douma, the most important bastion of the terrorists in region.

The army men started attacking terrorists’ defense liens from the newly-feed Modira region and advanced in Harasta.

The government troops, then, seized control over a number of buildings near the Vehicles Management Center, the farms near Modira and near the town of Harasta.

The advancing army soldiers met each other in a region between Harasta and Modira and laid siege on the strategic town of Douma, the main and the largest base of terrorists in Eastern Ghouta.

Field sources said that the terrorist-held regions in Eastern Ghouta have now been split up into the three parts of Harasta, Douma and the Southern regions.

Al-Nusra terrorists used chlorine chemicals in Eastern Ghouta

(RT) ~ Russia’s envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia has accused militant groups in Eastern Ghouta of using chlorine gas, while stressing that the Syrian government has every right to eradicate the “terrorism hotbed” near its capital.

Nebenzia has defended Syria’s government and the ongoing anti-terrorism operation in Eastern Ghouta, asserting that it has “every right to try and remove the threat to the safety of its citizens.”

“According to information at our disposal, on March 5, Al-Nusra militants used chorine substance in Eastern Ghouta, which injured 30 civilians. All this is done to prepare the grounds for unilateral military actions against sovereign Syria,” Nebenzia stated.

“The suburbs of Damascus cannot remain a hotbed of terrorism. And it is being used for continued attempts by terrorists to undermine the cessation of hostilities.”

The ongoing operation in the Damascus suburbs does not violate resolution 2401, which allows the continuation of the battle against terrorists, the diplomat stressed. The terrorists, unlike Moscow and Damascus, do, in fact, frequently attack hospitals and other civilian facilities, and the attacks are well-documented, he added.

“Since the resolution was passed, more than 100 people died from this and a considerably higher number were wounded. More than one hospital…was shelled,” Nebenzia said. “These were true hospitals, genuine hospitals, not headquarters of fighters which they very frequently claim to be hospitals.”

The militants also are preventing the civilians from leaving the combat zone, raining mortar and sniper fire on them.

“They [militants] are constantly striking humanitarian corridors and checkpoints, including during the humanitarian pauses,” Nebenzia stated. “They intensified the use of tunnels in order to provoke the Syrian military and the exits of those tunnels are in the areas of public buildings, first and foremost mosques, hospitals and markets.”

The Russian diplomat pointed out that the conflict in Syria, and in Eastern Ghouta in particular, is used by western countries only to “produce endless accusations against Russia,” while “doing nothing” to improve the situation in Syria. “What’s being done – is a political issue, caused not that much by concerns about the humanitarian needs of the Syrians,” Nebenzia said.

The official has also cast a shadow of doubt on the figures on casualties in Syria provided by the UN, wondering about their sources and asking them to be more specific about them next time.

“The death of any number of civilians in an armed conflict is a tragedy, but our delegation has always been interested in the origin of the statistical data that is being used within the UN,” Nebenzia explained. “Given how politicized the subject is, it’s very important. In Eastern Ghouta, we hear very frequently assessments of the losses among civilians. We expect that, in future reports, we will see the source of this data, how reliable it is, and who exactly is meant by ‘trustworthy sources’ on the ground.”

Russia, unlike many other countries, takes concrete steps to implement the resolution 2401, Nebeznya said, dismissing the claims, made by some diplomats, including US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley, that Moscow was somehow responcible for continued violence in Syria.

“We believe it’s important for everyone to understand: the resolution 2401 is not about an immediate secession of hostilities, which would be an utopia, it’s about the sides [of conflict] reaching a preliminary agreement on a stable de-escalation in all regions of Syria, not in Eastern Ghouta only. It’s the only realistic way, and the resolution has a clear statement on this issue, which we’re trying to speed up,” Russian diplomat stated.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

The General Command of the Syrian Arab Army and Syrian Armed Forces announced that terrorist groups located in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo targeted on Sunday afternoon al-Nairab area and its surroundings with mortar shells containing chlorine, causing scores of injuries among civilians and military personnel.

In a statement, the General Command said that this terrorist attack is a response to the achievements made by the Army and Armed Forces south and west of Aleppo, to the heavy losses suffered by terrorists, and to the failure of all attempts to break the encirclement of terrorists in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo.

The General Command asserted that such cowardly attacks will only make the Army and Armed Forces more determined to speed up the finalization of the battle with terrorism and to rid the eastern neighborhoods of the terrorists who use civilians as hostages and human shields.

Terrorists had fired shells containing toxic materials on residential neighborhoods in Aleppo more than once, with one such incident taking place on October 31st when they targeted al-Hamadaniye and al-Assad suburb with toxic gases, causing 48 cases of asphyxiation, and on November 3rd terrorists targeted Manian west of Aleppo with toxic gases, causing 8 cases of asphyxiation.

Syrian Arab Army assault on the Minyan district

After the liberation of the 1070 district the Syrian Arabic Army continued its operation to oust the terrorists from the western outskirts of Aleppo.

Syrian Arab Army units were preparing to storm the suburbs Minyan.

The advantage was on the side of government forces, good viewing area from the New Aleppo.

Militants used shells containing poison chlorine gas to attack Syrian military positions in Aleppo on Sunday, injuring scores of government troops, according to the Syrian Army.

In a statement Monday, the General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces confirmed that terrorist groups located in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo targeted the al-Nairab area and its surroundings with mortar shells containing chlorine on Sunday evening, SANA news agency reported.

Scores of civilians and military personnel were injured, the military said.

Citing sources on the ground, RT Arabic reported that at least 28 government troops were injured. Local media gave the same figures for those injured.
RT’s Murad Gazdiev, reporting from Aleppo, said that after contacting hospitals, the number of soldiers injured in the attack may be as high as 44. “We don’t know exactly how many of them had died or how many are merely sick,” he added.

The attack is the third instance of terrorists using chemical weapons in Aleppo in the space of just two weeks.

Previously, gas was used on October 30, when one person was killed and 40 injured. A second incident took place on November 3.

Earlier this week, experts from the Russian Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces’ research center found evidence of Aleppo militants using chlorine and white phosphorus.

Following the discovery, Russia’s Defense Ministry addressed the UN’s Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, asking it to send a mission to Aleppo.Both Russian and Syrian authorities repeatedly warned that militants from some hardline groups might use chemical weapons against civilians and government forces in the city.

The West have pointed the finger at Damascus and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) for using chemical weapons, but not militants in Aleppo, who are labeled the ‘moderate opposition’ by the US and its allies.

Russian and Syrian aviation have halted its air strikes in Aleppo, which remains split between the Syrian government forces and the terrorists, on October 18, and have been regularly organizing 10-hour “humanitarian pauses” in the city.

TERRORIST IN ALEPPO SHOOT
WITH USA MADE WEAPONS

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies advanced in Western Aleppo capturing the suburb of Minian and gaining ground in the neighbouring Dahiyet al-Assad district.

Mercenary-terrorists launch toxic gas attack
near Aleppo airport

Militants have launched a toxic gas attack near the international airport in Syria’s Aleppo, Al Mayadeen TV reported Sunday. According to the Lebanon-based TV channel, during an artillery attack miliants used shells with poisonous gas. At least 28 Syrian servicemen have been injured.

Sunday’s attack is the third militants’ reported use of chemical weapons over the last two weeks.

On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian military experts had found evidence that militants in the Syrian city of Aleppo had used chemical weapons, likely chlorine and white phosphorus. The ministry added that it samples of soil and shell fragments found in Aleppo to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

In late October, a chemical attack in Aleppo killed two and injured dozens of civilians.

Despite numerous reports of militants’ use of chemical weapons, the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) expert panel recently released the fourth report, which, in particular, claimed that the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad had used chemical weapons at least three times in the country throughout 2014-2015.

On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed regret over the OPCW decision.

Russian military experts have found that militants in the Syrian city of Aleppo have used chemical weapons, likely chlorine and white phosphorus, spokesperson of the Russian Defense Ministry Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

“While conducting reconnaissance in the ‘1070’ area, the officers of the scientific center of the Russian Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence (RChBD) have found evidence of chemical weapon use by terrorists against the civilian population and Syrian servicemen,” he said on Friday…(…read more…)…

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